FERNDALE -- Police arrested a woman for slapping a teacher who questioned what she was she doing in a hallway of Webb Elementary School, 2100 Woodward Heights, which is part of the Hazel Park School District.

Leandra Creer, 34, of Kansas City, Mo., was charged with assault and battery in the incident, which occurred about 12:20 p.m. Tuesday.

The teacher reported seeing a stranger wearing pajama bottoms in the K-5 school as her first-grade class was lining up in the hallway to go to the cafeteria for lunch. She asked the outsider what she was doing and the woman told her she taking a lunch to a student.

Police said Creer gave the name of a teacher that the victim didn't recognize. The teacher then insisted she follow protocol and report to the school office first.

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"The woman started yelling at her. She told the teacher that she was rude and she wouldn't go to the office," Lt. Bill Wilson said.

Creer reportedly continued down a hallway toward the back of the school. The teacher went to the office to notify the principal. Then, Creer showed up in the office and confronted the teacher.

"She began yelling at the teacher, accusing her of being rude and started to push her with her body, a chest bump sort of thing," Wilson said. "The teacher told her to back up and the woman slapped her in the face."

Creer left but returned and told police she was the aunt of a student. She was arrested for assault and battery, which is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail. Creer was arraigned Tuesday and is out on personal bond.

The teacher was slapped with a flat hand. She wasn't badly hurt but she was shaken up and she told a union representative "my ear was ringing for a while," said Calvin Mott, executive director of the South Oakland Districts Association, which is part of the Michigan Education Association.

"Our biggest concern is about safety and tightening security considering what has happened in schools over the last few years and in Connecticut last month," Mott said. "How could a person walk through the school like that?"

Visitors are supposed to use the front door, which is unlocked, but is monitored by a school paraprofessional who directs everyone to the office, Mott said. He isn't sure how Creer got inside.

Superintendent Jim Meisinger said the aunt was in the school to drop off a preschooler for the afternoon session.

"Everything was kosher up to the point she took the liberty to deliver a lunch to the little girl's sibling," he said. "The teacher intercepted her and said she should go to the office first. The teacher did her job. The aunt gave the impression she wouldn't go to the office."

When Creer finally showed up in the office, Meisinger said she lost her composure.

"She will be arrested if she ever comes back on the property because of the behavior she exhibited," he said. "I think we also need to remind everyone to go to the office first. You hope a parent or anybody would understand that."